The UFC made history when it appointed (Rowdy) Ronda Rousey as its inaugural UFC women’s bantamweight champion.

Soon after that, it was revealed she would make her first title defence against Liz (Girl-Rilla) Carmouche in the main event of UFC 157 in Anaheim, Calif., Feb. 23.

However, the initial announcement was followed by an eerie silence, as there was no mention of other female fights being booked. This left many wondering how committed the UFC was to women’s MMA and whether the division could survive should Rousey suffer her first career defeat.

But now that an April scrap between Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano has been announced, a clearer picture of the division is beginning to emerge.

Rousey said she’s happy to see the naysayers proved wrong.

“I love the fact that, before this fight has even happened, they’re already scheduling more girl fights,” Rousey said on a recent conference call. “So all the people that say, ‘The outcome of this fight determines the future of the women’s division,’ it’s obviously not true.

“(The UFC) is already investing in a long-term vision that they have for the girls’ division. It’s really encouraging. I’m happy to see that it’s not just about me and Liz. It’s about all the girls and I’m excited to see what’s up next.”

Though the women’s division may be here for the long haul, it certainly benefits from having Rousey as its champion. Her knack for creating hype and turning heads is the main reason UFC president Dana White even entertained the idea in the first place. As more fans take an interest in Rousey, greater attention will inevitably be paid to her rivals.

Rousey may be proud of her role in building women’s MMA, but she isn’t about to let it slow her own career. The 2008 Olympic judo bronze medal winner said she will always put herself first.

After that, everything else is just gravy.

“These are things that needed to be done for a very long time now,” Rousey said. “I didn’t think waiting for someone else to do it was the wisest (course of action). I felt like I was the most capable person and that I should just suck it up and go make it happen. Of course, there are lot of obstacles in the way — Liz Carmouche being one of them — and I’m taking them all seriously.

“The pressure I put on myself just for my own pride outweighs any pressure I could put on myself for anyone else’s motives. It does seem like an important fight and a lot weighs on it, but I don’t like anybody that much. I care more about winning for myself than I care about winning for anybody else.”

While Rousey has proved to be a media sensation since competing under the Strikeforce banner, casual fans are less familiar with Carmouche. Sporting an 8-2 record, the hard-hitting bantamweight has picked up five knockout wins in her career. Her two losses have come to former Strikeforce 135-pound champions, Sarah Kaufman and Marloes Coenen.

Now that she’s poised to compete in the first women’s main event in UFC history, Carmouche finds herself under the brightest spotlight of her career. On top of increased media obligations, Carmouche is also featured alongside Rousey in a three-part UFC Primetime special.

Carmouche said she’s enjoying the increased attention.

“It’s definitely a change from past fights, but getting to meet new people and see new faces has been great,” Carmouche said. “I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback. People didn’t really have insight into my life or Ronda’s life. So (Primetime) gave them a little bit more than they knew before.

“A lot of people have just been saying good luck to the both of us and that they think what we’re doing is amazing.”

Though Rousey has plenty on her plate at the moment, many fans were hoping to see her lock horns with former Strikeforce featherweight titleholder Cristiane (Cyborg) Santos.

However, Santos has long said she can’t safely cut to 135 pounds. She began to lobby for a 140-pound catchweight, but the UFC shot down the idea. As a result, her manager, Tito Ortiz, recently requested the UFC release her from her contract.

Rousey mocked Santos’ pitch for a catchweight fight.

“She’s just making a lot of noise and trying to get attention because she’s fading into being irrelevant,” Rousey said. “She needs to go on TV and make a big fuss so people will remember her name. To be honest, I have a lot of options ahead of me. I have a lot of girls I can fight. She doesn’t really have any other options besides me. So she can run around and be a big ‘cry-borg’ as much as she wants. But at some point she’s going to have to come around and take the only fight that’s available to her. In the meantime, I’m going to take the plenty of options available to me.

“I’m not spending any time worrying about her because Liz Carmouche has 100% of my attention. ‘Cy-roid’ is not worth my time at the moment.”

TATE TAKES ON ZINGANO

The UFC has booked its second women’s fight.

Former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Miesha (Cupcake) Tate will meet Cat (Alpha) Zingano at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale in Las Vegas on April 13. The card will be headlined by a flyweight title fight between Demetrious Johnson and John Moraga.

Tate captured the Strikeforce belt with a submission victory over Marloes Coenen in 2011. However, she was dethroned in her next outing, losing via gruesome armbar to Ronda Rousey last March. She returned to the win column in August, submitting Julie Kedzie.

Undefeated following seven professional bouts, Zingano has only gone the distance once in her career. Her most recent performance saw her submit Raquel Pennington at Invicta FC 3 in October.

BIG FOOT GETS TITLE SHOT

Antonio (Big Foot) Silva will get another crack at Cain Velasquez.

Silva is set to challenge the heavyweight champ in the main event of UFC 160 in Las Vegas on May 25. The bout takes place one year after Velasquez mauled the Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt en route to a bloody TKO victory at UFC 146.

Velasquez then went on to recapture the heavyweight strap in December, winning a dominant unanimous decision over Junior (Cigano) dos Santos. Since getting battered by Velasquez, Silva has won his past two outings, picking up knockouts over Travis Browne and Alistair (Demolition Man) Overeem.

Also at UFC 160, Overeem will lock horns with dos Santos in the co-main event. The two were originally set to meet at UFC 146 last May, but Overeem failed a random pre-fight drug test. Dos Santos stayed on, knocking out Frank Mir.

MENDES PULLED FROM UFC 157

Chad (Money) Mendes has been removed from UFC 157.

The former featherweight title challenger was set to meet Manny Gamburyan in Anaheim, Calif., on Feb. 23, but Gamburyan was forced onto the sidelines due to a thumb injury. Unable to find a suitable replacement opponent, the UFC opted to pull Mendes from the event.

The Team Alpha Male fighter will now meet Clay (The Carpenter) Guida at UFC on FOX 7 in San Jose, Calif., on April 20. The card will be headlined by a lightweight fight between Benson Henderson and Gilbert Melendez.

Since falling short on his bid to dethrone Jose Aldo early last year, Mendes has picked up consecutive knockout victories, dispatching both Cody McKenzie and Yaotzin Meza.

Guida made a successful featherweight debut last month, winning a controversial split decision over Hatsu Hioki.

MIGHTY MOUSE FINDS A CHALLENGER

Demetrious (Mighty Mouse) Johnson has his next challenger.

John Moraga will battle the UFC flyweight champion in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale in Las Vegas on April 13. Also on the card, Miesha Tate will meet Cat Zingano and Gabriel Gonzaga will take on Travis Browne.

Johnson is two weeks removed from his first successful title defence, winning a thrilling unanimous decision over John Dodson in January. The AMC Pankration fighter captured the title by conquering the UFC’s inaugural 125-pound tournament last year, defeating both Ian McCall and Joseph Benavidez.

Undefeated in his past seven outings, Moraga’s sole career loss came via unanimous decision to Dodson in 2010. The two-time all-American wrestler made a statement in his UFC debut, knocking out Ulysses Gomez in August. He took home submission of the night honours four months later, putting away Chris Cariaso with a guillotine choke.

The 1992 and 1996 Greco-Roman Olympian admitted he has been hearing similar rumours and threats for two decades. Though he wasn’t entirely shocked, he said he’s no less saddened by the IOC demoting the sport ahead of the 2020 Games.

“It’s kind of sad that happened,” Henderson said on a recent UFC conference call. “It’s the sport that’s been there the longest in the Olympics, but I’ve been hearing that be threatened for at least 20 years now. Hopefully it doesn’t stay (dropped). It’s just unfortunate.

“I wouldn’t trade my Olympic experience for anything. It’s just sad seeing it on the brink of not being in the Olympics again.”

Henderson is set to face Lyoto Machida in the co-main event of UFC 157 in Anaheim, Calif., on Feb. 23. However, he’s not the only Olympian fighting that night, as (Rowdy) Ronda Rousey defends the UFC women’s bantamweight title against Liz Carmouche in the headlining bout.

The 2008 Olympic judo bronze medal winner said she was blown away when she heard the news.

“I thought it was a hoax when I heard it, to be honest,” Rousey said. “I think it’s just a shame. This is the oldest sport in all of the Olympics. In the original Olympics, they had wrestling in there. The idea that they’re replacing it with golf — I think if you don’t break a sweat, it’s not a sport. It’s a skill.

“It’s very skillful to be good at golf, but wrestling is one of the (purest) sports in the Olympics. I think they’re destroying part of their history by getting rid of it.”

Rousey feels MMA will help preserve wrestling.

“I do think MMA is going to preserve wrestling,” Rousey said. “Without wrestling in the Olympics, there’d be a large drop in kids enrolling, but because it’s such a good base for MMA, you’re going to see a lot more kids coming in and doing it.”

Rousey feels more pressure from herself than others ... Cyborg? More like ‘Cry-borg’

The UFC made history when it appointed (Rowdy) Ronda Rousey as its inaugural UFC women’s bantamweight champion.

Soon after that, it was revealed she would make her first title defence against Liz (Girl-Rilla) Carmouche in the main event of UFC 157 in Anaheim, Calif., Feb. 23.

However, the initial announcement was followed by an eerie silence, as there was no mention of other female fights being booked. This left many wondering how committed the UFC was to women’s MMA and whether the division could survive should Rousey suffer her first career defeat.

But now that an April scrap between Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano has been announced, a clearer picture of the division is beginning to emerge.

Rousey said she’s happy to see the naysayers proved wrong.

“I love the fact that, before this fight has even happened, they’re already scheduling more girl fights,” Rousey said on a recent conference call. “So all the people that say, ‘The outcome of this